Traditionally, the squeaker assembly used in children's toys and/or pet toys includes 4 major components—a cup, a reed, a retaining ring to secure the reed to the cup, and a housing, which is usually cylindrical, and which receives the assembled reed and cup. The housing is then inserted into an opening in an elastomeric toy, and may be retained using the elasticity of the material to create a friction fit. In most applications where the material of the toy is a natural rubber or TPE compound, there may be a molded plug of the same material that is used to fill the hole left from the molding operation where the mandrel or core is removed, to allow the toy to be hollow, to create an air bladder capable of activating the squeaker (i.e., to cause air to flow over the reed and cup, to cause vibrations that create the sound). The molded plug typically includes a large column of material that doubles as both the means to retain the squeaker assembly, and as a protective device to add more durability to the squeaker.
This basic construction for a squeaker has generally remained unchanged over many decades. Such a basic device is shown, for example, by the “Voice Device” of U.S. Pat. No. 1,649,722 that was issued to Munro in 1927. The '722 patent discloses use of: “a tongue member 21” (2:6-7) which is the equivalent of the reed; that reference numeral “15 designates the body member” (1:101-102) which is the equivalent of the cup; “a disk 23” (2:13), the equivalent of the retaining ring; and “a housing member 24” (2:37). The '722 patent states that its “voice device” is “adapted more particularly to be mounted in the wall of a rubber ball.” (1:70-72).
U.S. Pat. No. 8,523,628, for a “Noise Producing Toy Structure,” was issued to Rutherford in 2013, and its “noise producing assembly” may similarly use “a reed” for the “squeaker 96b.” with “a weight 96c placed around the squeaker,” which may be received in a “shell 96a made of a durable material.”
FIG. 1A herein is an exploded view that shows the component parts of a generic prior art squeaker, which are shown assembled in FIG. 1B. FIG. 2A shows the assembled prior art squeaker, a plug, and a molded toy prior to being assembled together, and FIG. 2B shows the prior art squeaker and plug after being installed through the opening in the toy.
The present invention is particularly adapted to reduce the total number of parts necessary to achieve an effective squeak producing device. In addition to being advantageous to more easily manufacture the device, the reduction in the total number of parts may also serve to minimize the parts that may be dislodged under extremely aggressive play by an animal, when used in a pet toy, thus reducing the actual and/or the perceived danger, if the parts are exposed. The reduced parts count may also reduce the total amount of non-elastomeric material included in the product, thereby reducing the overall risk to an animal.
The present invention is a modified version of a traditional squeaker design that has been reduced to only two major component parts, and eliminates both the molded plastic retaining ring and the plastic squeaker housing as individual components, and yet it achieves an identical sound to the traditional design.